left to make a last desperate stand, stole away and made for
Isle-aux-Noix. Hebecourt replied to Amherst's artillery with the
numerous guns of the fort for three days. Amherst still would not allow
his army to move forward for the assault, having in mind the terrible
losses of last year and knowing that he was bound to win.

The brave Hebecourt and his soldiers also left the fort at last,
escaping in boats, and leaving a match burning in the magazine. One of
the bastions of Ticonderoga blew up with a tremendous explosion, and
then the victorious army marched in. Ticonderoga, such a looming and
tremendous name in America, a fortress for which so much blood had been
shed, had fallen at last. Robert did not dream that in another war, less
than twenty years away, it would change hands three times.

They found, a little later, that Crown Point, the great fortress upon
which the French king had spent untold millions, had been abandoned also
and was there for the Anglo-American army to take whenever it chose.
Then Amherst talked of going on into Canada and coöperating with Wolfe,
but, true to his cautious soul, he began to build forts and arrange for
the mastery of Lake Champlain.

Robert, Tayoga and Willet grew impatient as the days passed. The news
came that Prideaux had been killed before Niagara, but Sir William
Johnson, the Waraiyageh of the Mohawks, assuming command in his stead,
had taken the place, winning a great victory. After the long night the
dawn had come. Everything seemed to favor the English and Americans, and
now the eyes of the three turned upon Quebec. It was evident that the
war would be won or lost there, and they could bear the delays no
longer. Saying farewell to their comrades of Amherst's army, they
plunged into the northern wilderness, taking an almost direct course for